Day 3 : Magic Gardens

Today is our last day in Philly and it feels like we’ve been here both a short time and a long time. Regardless, it’s been a great time.

Lucky for me, since it was our last day we didn’t have to be up too early. I’d say I got up around 8:30-9 or so, which allowed me to get the most sleep I have so far this weekend. Since gift shops at popular sites are overpriced (unless wanting something specific from that place), we wanted to head to your standard souvenir/gift shop. Usually they’re easier to find when searching in cities. There were a couple close by, but only one that was open at 10am on a Sunday.

It ended up having everything we were looking for, which was awesome! I got some souvenirs for my boyfriend and family, and then some postcards. If you don’t know, I am a mega stationary person. I love all the things, and I especially love cards. Combine that with my love of sending/receiving mail, and many people close to me get sent postcards from my travels! I not only love sending mail as it shows that you took time out of your day to think about someone specifically (which is special), but who doesn’t love getting something personal in the mailbox when nowadays your mailbox is filled with junk, ads, and bills?

(Side note – should I offer something where you could sign up to get a postcard from my travels as well?? It would be at least once a year! Let me know in the comments 🙂 )

After we had our souvenirs, we were headed to breakfast. This place has not only been famously running since 1923 and served celebrity patrons including Will Smith, JFK, Obama, and more, but it was also the best food I’ve ever had. When we arrived our server informed us everything was huge and oversized. We opted for regular bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches on bagels which would be standard, then a side of French fries.

When I tell you this is the best bacon, egg, and cheese on a bagel I have ever had, that is no exaggeration. 2 eggs cooked to perfection, an abundance of cheese, bacon also cooked to perfection, and a perfectly toasted plain bagel made for the most amazingly delicious breakfast sandwich of my life. Then you see the side of fries. Piled and overflowing in a bowl with a Jenga-style set up, he wasn’t kidding when he said you got a lot of food. Entire breakfast – 10/10.

Now that we’ve enjoyed breakfast, it’s time for the ‘rents to go home. We made our way to the airport, they got dropped off, and I was headed to the last place on my list – Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens

I stumbled upon this place while looking at maps of the city to determine the distance between places we wanted to see so I could put together some sort of estimated itinerary and get an idea on if we could make it work (Type A personality, am i right?). While looking, I saw a location on the map with the name and clicked on it to see some pictures. It was a mosaic-type style of art made into a walking labyrinth. The pictures were amazing and seeing it in person… speechless.

I love art so much, and I have such an appreciation for it, and this place truly left me it utter awe. The creativity, the styling, the small details, the big picture, it has it all. The cliff notes version – a guy named Isaiah Zagar had a mental breakdown at 28 where he heard a voice telling him that he needed to create mosaics, because he saw them in a way no one else did. That eventually led to the purchase of multiple properties and creating these mosaics on every inch of space. Ceilings, walls, floors, doorways, etc. I thought it was so amazing that I even purchased their gallery book from the gift shop – which I’ve never done before lol. I could go on about how it makes me feel, but I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Since this was the last place on my list, the next stop was home! With a coffee in hand, I was headed back to Connecticut as my 7th Annual New Year New Place Trip has come to an end. It was a fantastic weekend, and I am so glad my parents got to come experience it with me. We had a great time, saw tons of awesome things, burned hundreds of calories, and made memories.

Feel free to leave a comment down below to let me know your thoughts or ask any questions. Make sure you subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss out on any posts, and thanks so much for sticking around!

Until next time ❤